I was never into many sports as a kid. I never joined the typical kids soccer or basketball teams when I was in elementary school. It's not that I wasn't athletic, I went to the park and ran around with my parents and my younger sister, but I just didn't do any organized sports. I remember clearly, though, the day I found out about swim team. I was at the park with my dad in late spring before the pool was open and we saw people in the pool house. When we found out it was swim team I immediately knew I wanted to do it. My mom says that I took swim lessons when I was younger for a bit, but I don't really remember ever being taught how to swim. It just came naturally to me. Even though there were times when it was hard, I always wanted to overcome it so I could enjoy the full experience.
I joined the Manchester Triton Swim Team when I was 8 years old and have been on it ever since. At first, my reason for being on the team was just pure passion. I loved being in the water. I would spend full days at the pool, only leaving to eat lunch and once the pool closed at the end of the day. But, as I got older it became more than that. When people asked me why I did swim team I was able list more reasons why it wasn't fun than reasons it was. I didn't like waking up early for practice in the summer, I didn't like having to get into the cold pool and stay there for two hours straight, I didn't like many of the people on my team, and I didn't like having to travel for long meets. But I did like getting ribbons and being in the water. Even though I didn't have many people people to talk to, I loved being at meets and competing. I was pretty good, better than most of the other kids my age on my team, so I stuck with it.
The older I got, the harder I had to try to get better and swim faster. I started observing other people and working on things that they were good at if I wasn't good at them. I worked on my kicking, even though I hated kicking. I swam the butterfly drills without complaining even though I never raced butterfly and got tired after about half a lap of it. Then I noticed my times dropping. I was getting stronger because I was working muscles that I normally hadn't. I learned that had to push myself to do the things I didn't want to if I wanted to improve. Swimming isn't about beating other people, it's about beating yourself. The point is to focus on getting your own best times and swimming races that felt better than any other race you had swam.
I was a veteran on the team. By this past summer I had been a part of the team for 11 years. In that time we had gone through about 8 different coaches, some better than others. This sounds like a negative thing, but I learned to listen to what they all had to say and mold it all into something that worked best for me and improved my strokes the most. I perfected my starts and turns to the best of my ability and learned strategies to help specifically with my races. I know there's always room for improvement and ways to get better, but I felt really good about certain aspects of my swimming.
Swimming is something that I am just naturally good at, but have worked hard towards, too. While some people on my team would fool around and not pay attention during practice, I listened and tried my hardest to take in the information so that I could use it in the future. I acquired a lot of knowledge that I was able to use not only for myself but also to benefit others. I helped other people improve on their own swimming by teaching lessons and demonstrating to them what they were doing versus what they should be doing. I was a mentor for some of the younger girls on my team. We met outside of practice so that I could give them the one on one help that I never received from my coaches when I was 8. I helped them learn the rules and improve their own strokes tremendously.
Swimming is my expertise. I worked hard to get to the place that I am today and I don't regret one bit of it. Even when I was shaking in the cold pool and my lips were blue, I wouldn't take any minute of it back. It's days like that that made me a better swimmer. I will always value the skills I learn and hope to use them for the rest of my life. I want to continue swimming for fun and to stay in shape because it's something I have become so familiar with and I want to carry it with me for the rest of my life.
I joined the Manchester Triton Swim Team when I was 8 years old and have been on it ever since. At first, my reason for being on the team was just pure passion. I loved being in the water. I would spend full days at the pool, only leaving to eat lunch and once the pool closed at the end of the day. But, as I got older it became more than that. When people asked me why I did swim team I was able list more reasons why it wasn't fun than reasons it was. I didn't like waking up early for practice in the summer, I didn't like having to get into the cold pool and stay there for two hours straight, I didn't like many of the people on my team, and I didn't like having to travel for long meets. But I did like getting ribbons and being in the water. Even though I didn't have many people people to talk to, I loved being at meets and competing. I was pretty good, better than most of the other kids my age on my team, so I stuck with it.
The older I got, the harder I had to try to get better and swim faster. I started observing other people and working on things that they were good at if I wasn't good at them. I worked on my kicking, even though I hated kicking. I swam the butterfly drills without complaining even though I never raced butterfly and got tired after about half a lap of it. Then I noticed my times dropping. I was getting stronger because I was working muscles that I normally hadn't. I learned that had to push myself to do the things I didn't want to if I wanted to improve. Swimming isn't about beating other people, it's about beating yourself. The point is to focus on getting your own best times and swimming races that felt better than any other race you had swam.
I was a veteran on the team. By this past summer I had been a part of the team for 11 years. In that time we had gone through about 8 different coaches, some better than others. This sounds like a negative thing, but I learned to listen to what they all had to say and mold it all into something that worked best for me and improved my strokes the most. I perfected my starts and turns to the best of my ability and learned strategies to help specifically with my races. I know there's always room for improvement and ways to get better, but I felt really good about certain aspects of my swimming.
Swimming is something that I am just naturally good at, but have worked hard towards, too. While some people on my team would fool around and not pay attention during practice, I listened and tried my hardest to take in the information so that I could use it in the future. I acquired a lot of knowledge that I was able to use not only for myself but also to benefit others. I helped other people improve on their own swimming by teaching lessons and demonstrating to them what they were doing versus what they should be doing. I was a mentor for some of the younger girls on my team. We met outside of practice so that I could give them the one on one help that I never received from my coaches when I was 8. I helped them learn the rules and improve their own strokes tremendously.
Swimming is my expertise. I worked hard to get to the place that I am today and I don't regret one bit of it. Even when I was shaking in the cold pool and my lips were blue, I wouldn't take any minute of it back. It's days like that that made me a better swimmer. I will always value the skills I learn and hope to use them for the rest of my life. I want to continue swimming for fun and to stay in shape because it's something I have become so familiar with and I want to carry it with me for the rest of my life.